Chapter 1

Government and Law in Australia

 Different kinds of law

◦ Natural
◦ Moral and religious
◦ Custom
◦ National


 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q1Nb2Upe4c lion king “lifes not fair”

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HVRqrENRis law of nature
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcEFTGb_ZR0 law of the jungle
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdAEhBIH6iw Customs
 Restrict the use of force
 Prohibit and punish particular behaviour
 Permit or reward particular behaviour
 Creation of rights or duties
 A good and fair result.

 Clear and predictable application

In basic terms, legal rules are applied to
specified facts in order to decide the outcome. In
other words, the proper outcome or result of a
case is deduced by applying the relevant rules of
law to the proved facts.
For example:
Rule: Anyone found guilty of serious theft must
go to prison
Facts: Peter has been found guilty of serious
theft
Decision: Peter must go to prison
 Deciding questions in this way is a logical,
deductive approach.
 The correct decision is normally presumed to result
from the logical process. But sometimes, strictly
legal reasoning can lead to outcomes that appear
harsh or unfair.
• Generally, as well as being logical, legal
decisions ought to be ‘just’.
• One element of justice is that everybody
should be treated in the same way unless
there are significant differences in the
circumstances.
• That means that if another case were to arise
with essentially the same facts as in Peter’s
case, that other person should be treated in
the same way as Peter.
But if another case were to arise which involved
significantly different facts from Peter’s case, then
can a different outcome be justified, either by
applying a different rule, or by modifying the original
rule?
For example:
Rule: Anyone found guilty of serious theft must go to
prison.
Facts: William has been found guilty of serious theft.
Additional fact: William is 10 years old.
Decision: William should not go to prison
 In the light of both Peter’s case and William’s case,
we can say that the original rule is better expressed
as:
adult persons found guilty of serious theft
must go to prison.
 With the rule modified in that way, it is possible to
decide William’s case differently from Peter’s.
 Why is the court justified in taking account of
William’s age?
 Because a failure to do so would result in an
obviously harsh outcome, and the notion of justice
requires that outcomes should not be unduly harsh
or unfair. By taking the additional facts into account,
and modifying the rule, fairer results are achieved
• The strictly logical application of existing
rules promotes certainty and predictability.

• While, the fair and just nature of decisions

promotes respect and support for the law.

• These considerations must be balanced.

 Categories

◦ Criminal
◦ Civil
◦ Tort
◦ Contract

refer chapter 1, page 5 of text

 Legal Concepts
 Legal Principles
 Legal Rules
 Legal Meaning
 Legal Authorities
 Roman
 English
 European Settlement
 Government of the Australian Colonies
 Establishment of the Commonwealth of Aust
 The Australian States and Territories
 Constitutions of the Commonwealth and the
States
 Constitutional arrangement of the territories
 Constitutional monarchy in Australia
 Representative democracy in Australia
 Local governments
 The law related powers and responsiblities of
governments.
 The Crown
 Legislature
 Executive
 Courts – High, Superior, Inferior
 Local Government
 Political parties
 Material facts
 Relevant rules of law
 Relevant rules applied to material facts